Doom 3: The Cave, The Pit
by Red is My New Black
Summary: Confessions from the lowly Maintenance Staff member, R. Roland, over the incidents of 2145. Based on the game, Doom 3.
1. Prelude

"The Union Aerospace Corporation is the largest corporate entity in existence.

Originally focused on weapons and defense contracts, new ventures have expanded into:

-Biological Research

-Space Exploration

And other scientific endeavours.

With unlimited funds, and the ability to engage in research outside of moral and legal obligations, the UAC controls the most advanced technology ever conceived."

When I was transferred from the UMOE (United Maintenance Organisation of Earth) to the UAC in 2143, I never thought I would end up on another planet.

I had never really heard much about Malcolm Betruger. I knew him to be an eccentric scientist and a bit of a nutcase, but when I discovered I was working under him, I did not freeze in shock or try to transfer back. It is ironic now, but back then, the Mars project was new and enthralled many people. I, however, accepted the dreary post of "Maintenance Staff" on Mars with little more than a shrug of the shoulders-it was just another job for me. Even the paycheck was nothing to write home about.

When I arrived on Mars, I was immediately put off the station. It was nothing short of freezing, and the air smelt of a combination of ship fuel and smoke. The soldier appointed to customs rudely signalled where I was meant to check-in. I never saw that man again.

After the arduous process of moving through customs, I finally entered the departure lounge. It was nothing like the one on Earth; for one thing, it was completely desolate-there was not one thing moving in that lounge. I went through the automatic door to see some receptionist. He gave me a PDA and abruptly told me that I was to report to the Head of Maintenance. I did as I was told.

For three weeks I had to stay up until 0400 hours, reading the manuals that elaborated on most of the equipment in the base. It took me a little under six months to be able to repair ANYTHING without referencing to the manuals.

I never had many friends on the station-everyone seemed so...isolated. It took me a year to finally remember anyone who wasn't my boss's names, I didn't see them that much. I was, however, in frequent contact with my family. I never enjoy my work-it wouldn't be work if I did-but I was happier there than in the UMOE.

It was in June 2144 that I heard the news. I was deleting all the shit spam I get from the UAC when I received an e-mail from Bertruger, intended for someone else. By law, I should have deleted the message there and then, or even better, reported the event to my superior and replied to Dr. Betruger, notifying him of the error. However, I felt compelled to disobey my obligation, for the title of the e-mail aroused my suspicion. I mean, what WAS NOT outstandingly captivating about "Teleportation Successful-Subjects Captured-Loss of Seven Lives"?? The e-mail itself was encoded, and being a lowly "Maintenance Staff", I did not have the intelligence or the personnel to decode it. I kept this knowledge to myself.

Then, in Novemeber of that year, I was working on a malfunctioning airduct when I heard something. I was wearing an O2 mask at the time, but I know what I heard wasn't a trick of the mind.

It was a screech. The screech only the most delirious, painful nightmare can procure. It shivered through me like an icicle of fear and caused me to drop the blue plasma-laser I had been cutting through the bulkhead with onto my left thigh. The laser engorged itself on my flesh and muscle as I burst out in a series of shouts, curses and thumps against the bulkhead. Thankfully, a man named Adam Berneche was working nearby and came to my aid.

The next thing I knew, I was in sickbay. My left leg was fine, aside from a massive, stitched scar that strectched along my thigh. "Relax, you'll be alright" said the doctor. I did not believe it. But then again, he _was_a doctor, and even if my leg looked ready for amputation, he seemed strangely...trustworthy. It was then I noticed Adam Berneche standing in the corner of the sickbay. He shook my hand and left. I never saw him again, either.

The screech still haunted me, and I found it difficult to sleep. In the next few months, people reported similar "unexplainable things", and the number of transfer requests had skyrocketed. My workload, also, had increased dramatically. Before I knew it, almost every electronic piece of equipment in the station broke down at least once. I was fine with it though-more work meant more money-and did not really feel affected by the silent terror that gripped my colleagues. I, also, was too busy to notice the messages that came over the comm, about "volunteers" for experiments in the Delta Labs. It seemed like like the base was at breaking point, and people were acting strangely. I heard rumours of workers attacking fellow workers, and a myth that Betruger was insane. I curse myself, now, for not observing the signs, and getting of this damn planet when I had the chance. No, I was too consumed in my pathetic work.

Then it happened.


	2. The Cave

I was repairing a control panel when this a sudden, strong shake rattled through the base. My comm earpiece, placed on a nearby stand, burst in a fury of static, and then...shouts and screams. I rushed to grab the earpiece. What I heard was truly terrifying.

Soldiers, scientists, whoever were screaming in fear and pain. I couldn't understand what they were saying, for their voices were muffled by the sounds of the semi-automatic weapons that were bursting into a blaring symphony of fire. Then death screams. Outcries. Muffled last breaths. The sound of necks snapping. The sound of droning speech. And then, the sound I was terrified of, the sound I had tried so hard to forget: the screech. It seemed to belong to a creature of evil, some nightmarish beast. It sounded as if the beast had been let free, after an eternity of being incarcerated and tortured. It sounded...hellish.

Sergeant Kelly then came over the comm frequency, and I doscovered the horrifying truth: we were under attack! I scrambled to get all of my possessions and then was overcome by a wave of fear-the walls of the base closed in around me and everything was distorted. Then i blacked out.

I awakened, on the ground, in the South Side of Mars City. It was a mess. The lights had gone out, but I could see on the other side of the room, a human figure. The chaos around me was overpowering, and I approached the figure. "Hello?" is said tentatively. The silhouette turned and faced me. It was a man! I had no idea what he was doing over in South Side, but my main concern was the massive amount of blood stained over his front. "Are you injured?!" I exclaimed. He then droned, like some sort of zombie out of a 20th century horror movie. It was then the room was lit up by a spark from an over-sized wire and I saw, behind the zombie, the bloodied corpse of a human. It's innards were half ripped out, or eaten, and my entire body reeled in the realisation of what was happening. In a sudden burst of adrenaline, I hit him over the head with a wrench and ran. He stumbled and moaned, but then slowly raised his arms and approached me. I quickly looked for an escape route, and noticed an extended maintenance ladder leading to a ventilation shaft. I ran for it and started to climb, but the zombie grabbed my leg. I kicked him square in the nose and continued up the ladder, then punched the panel to raise it. Thankfully, it rose. I stared down at the zombie.

His face was bloodied, and he stared at me absently. He then moved off, disinterested, and went back to his meal. I panted, and looked around the shaft. I wouldn't last long here, but it was the safest place until that zombie moved off. I sat on a nearby crate, and waited.


	3. The Savior

It must have been at least twenty minutes before I heard the whine of the elevator. I heard footsteps, then two shots from a shotgun. I heard a body collapse to the floor. I heard more footsteps, then looked down from my sanctuary-it was a marine!

"Hey you...up here" I whispered, as I lowered the ladder. The marine climbed up, and turned to face me. He was tall, and stongly built. His face looked like that of a superhero-or maybe that was just my senseless brain. "I thought I was the only one still alive!" I said with relief. He didn't answer, so I said, "I can't believe I found you!" I knew this was not the truth as soon as I said it, for he found me technically. But I know the marine types with my previous dealings with them-give them information and don't show your weakness. So, trying to cover the comment up, I said, "Something happened...I don't know what...it was like a shockwave, it passed through the entire base! People...changing...it's crazy. I was working here near the vent shafts...I don't know how I survived." He stared at me. I started to think he looked like a zombie himself. Or maybe he just wasn't in a talking mood, which was understandable. "Call for help-please!" I pleaded, and he moved off through the vent shafts purposefully.

I never saw him again, either.

I leaned against that crate for around an hour, hoping that he would return. But he didn't.

It was then I noticed a strange movement in the corner of the vent shaft. I approached it with caution. Upon close inspection, it was not dissimilar from a red tentacle, or root. But it was mvoing...oozing, and making a stomach-churning squelching, churning sound. I touched it. It felt like a tightened muscle, covered in blood. It did not notice me prodding it. I returned to my crate and tried to relax.

In around fifteen minutes, the tentacle had grown considerably. It was now the size of my thigh. It still failed to respond to my finger, so, out of some animalistic rage, I grabbed the crate and threw it at it. It did nothing. It droze my into an unexplainable fury. I charged it, puched it, I did anything I could to it, but it still did nothing. I stepped back to observe it, and it still moved, unabated by my efforts. I yelled at it, and backed away from it as if it was another zombie.

I then fell from the ventilation shaft onto the solid, metal floor. I landed poorly-my ankle suddenly clicked and exploded with pain. I let out an outcry of pain, followed by an outburst of curses at my incompetence. After a minute or two of revovering, I slid myself over to the ladder. I gripped it with both hands and tried to pull myself up.

Now, I'm not unfit or weak, but you couldn't exactly call me a weightlifter, and as such, I collapsed in a heap. I tried again, and again. Finally, I managed to bring myself up with both hands and one foot on the ladder's rungs. I was about to start a one-legged climb when the ladder broke off. It very nearly connected with my skull, preferring to collapse right on my ankle. I screamed in a new-found pain. I tried, then, to lift the ladder, but it must have been five tonnes. I lay there, trying to aplly logic to my situation, when I heard a sound.

It was a muffled 'whoosh', a noise no Earthly creature creates. Then I saw it. It was like an overgrown spider, posed, observant. I was gripped by fear (being a self-confessed acrophobe). Thankfully, it moved away within a few seconds. I continues trying to move the ladder but it was impossible. I was trapped.


	4. The Pit

Logic, strength and hope had abandoned me. I was at the mercy of chance and fate. My death was near certain-it was now purely a matter of how, and when.

Minutes passed. I pulled out and activated my PDA. No new e-mails. No word. I was alone. Hopefully, I was alone.

I then went through my PDA and looked through the messages from my family. I would never see them again. Assuming I was unable to lift this ladder.

Then another shock wave rumbled through the base. Then another. And another. It struck me-they were steps! Something huge must have walked past nearby. The ladder had moved, and in a few shoves, I heaved it aside. It clattered with a loud clang. The footsteps stopped.

I didn't breathe. I couldn't. My oesophagus had seized up. The footsteps started again, coming closer now. Suddenly, a massive imprint of a fist appeared in the security-locked door near the zombie's corpse. It was punching it's way through! It was...

_"This is Assistant Maintenance Staff member Roland, currently positioned in Mars City South Side, Maintenance Junction. Approximately three hours ago there was some...some kind of invasion on Mars. There are...things...alive...throughout the station. Personnel have been transformed as well. It's...*CLANK*...it's some kind of army! They're not human! Alien! Evil! And very dangerous! There are no survivors that I have *CLANK* seen except for a marine, who is probably deceased and has been for hours. They're...*CLANK* THEY'RE GONNA KILL US ALL! Whoever finds this, RUN! Do NOT attempt a rescue operation! Destroy this base with *CLANK...CRASH!!!* OH MY GOD! OH MY....HOLY...ARGH! Christ, holy Christ, ohhh...Jesus...oh my...*CRASH!!*....FU#K! HOLY FU#K! HELP ME!!! HELP ME!! OH MY GO_..."

Recording ended 23 40 hours, Mars time.

-All rights, and everything in this story is based on Doom 3 by iD. I didn't make it up. So iD, I'm not taking credit for anything. Just elaborating on a minor part of the great game you made-


End file.
